The 3D Diary

Hey guys, I just wanted to give you some heads up about some new technique and stuff that I got to learn from 3D Motion Graphics class. I got my hands on some features that allows me to create organic forms. It was pretty challenging but it was fun at the same time.

The assignment using these features would be to make a fictitious vehicle. I couldn't help but to make a futuristic spaceship (after getting through arguments with myself whether or not I should create a cool steampunk spaceship, but that would be too much work). I didn't sketch the vehicle. It just came out from my head, also with some time of experimenting and trying out if some forms would work to be put on the vehicle. I really had no special concept on the vehicle, though I managed to make some transparent dorms that allows its fictitious passengers to look through it.

Look at those fancy passenger seats I made in the last minute.

And just like what my instructor quoted "Because we need to play billiard in the outer space"

The next project was pretty fun, but I misinterpreted it completely. So the instructor assigned us to create a postcard from the hometown using some new features that we learned in the latter: 3D text, adding backgrounds, lighting, compositing, putting 3D model in the context (background). The assignment took form of making a postcard from our home country. As usual, afraid of making a mistake in my homework, I looked up at previous' terms works through school's computer server. Apparently students in the same class a semester ago, modeled and rendered their hometown's landmarks and added 3D lastly. Some of them even only made a model of the landmark and completely disregarded the 3D text.

So I asked a student whose work I saw in the server, and she said 3D text was optional. So I thought, okay, we just had to focus on making the model of the landmark. I better started as soon as possible, since I planned on making a Borobudur model. I was thinking of making Monas instead (Monas sounds more significant because after all, it's in my hometown), but the structure was too simple. So I thought my instructor would prefer to see something that was more elaborate (Borobudur, it is). So I spent roughly 4 hours on creating the structures of the Buddhist Temple and added textures, that excluding additional 2 hours in deciding on the background, perspective, lighting, and basically adjusted the model into the fixed background so that it matched the whole vibe. The process was a pain, but I was glad that it did look like what the actual structure looks like.

And then, the last step that wouldn't require much thinking is, adding the text in Photoshop so that it would look like a legit postcard!

I still need to work more on the details.

Rendered Monas as well.

You see how much effort I made in this class. Not that I'm into motion graphics but I never thought modeling would be so fun!

Then, just half an hour before the class started, I started to think I might have to incorporate 3D text. Putting the 3D text as assigned would be challenging because I had to put the model into the appropriate background so that it fits the perspective, and the 3D text needs to come into place with the perspective as well. Since I couldn't find a good background to put my full-scale Borobudur and 3D text into context, I just made a crappy one made out of plane feature and sky feature.

On the D-day, I proudly rendered everything I got and printed my best output (the first postcard you see at the top with the 2D "Beautiful Indonesia" one). I also printed the crappy one I posted recently with the 3D text. I didn't know what my instructor was expecting so I was just going to put up both and leave an impression that I put so much effort to this class.

Apparently, to my surprise, my other classmates barely did any 3D modeling of the landmark. They just chose a good photography of their hometown with a decent spot to place the 3D text in perspective. I repeated NOBODY did any 3D modeling of their landmark. I was the only one. The rest of the class just put 3D text into the photograph and that's it. Clearly my works were the two distinct ones out of everyone's, because I was the only one that spent hours on making the freaking model. My instructor said "Well, I'm looking for the 3D text." I quickly pointed out to the one that I did, but with a crappy Windows-XP-like setting. After all, that was the only one that I did using the 3D text. He complimented on my effort to make the model.

After class, I asked the professor if I could redo the assignment but he said there was no need to and that I should focus more on the midterm. I hope that should be a good thing. I told him I misinterpreted the homework (thinking 3D text was an option and the 3D modeling of the landmark should be the focus). I just told him that, I didn't tell him the reason why I misinterpreted it because it was way too dumb (I looked at previous' semester's works). Well, I learned my lesson now. Previous' semester class might have a different prompt than this semester. Instead of focusing onto the 3D text, they might have to focus more on the 3D model of the landmark.

Well, I still think I f*cked up the project, but heck I'm proud of it! When else could you make a 3D rendering of your landmark and present it to the whole class?